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Dealer Wins Federal Birth Control Lawsuit

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A U.S. District Court entered a final judgment on May 29 in favor of Joe Holland Chevrolet and its principal owner Joseph B. Holland, Jr. in the dealership’s legal challenge against the Affordable Care Act’s mandate on offering the morning after pill.

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The ruling means that Holland and his dealership are no longer required to offer the morning after pill to Joe Holland Chevrolet’s employees.

"The Court's ruling reaffirms the constitutional principle that every American is free to live and work according to their beliefs, without fear of punishment by their government," said Jeff Mateer of the Liberty Institute General Counsel, which represented Joe Holland Chevrolet and Joseph B. Holland in the case. "The government should never coerce faith-based, for-profit businessmen to violate their religious beliefs."

Holland alleged that in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., which found that the craft supply chain did not have to comply with the ACA’s contraceptive coverage requirement under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, his religious beliefs exempted him from offering certain birth control options. In particular, Holland is opposed to birth control that is taken “after conception,” according to an interview given by his legal representative when the lawsuit was initially filed.